Varvara's Travels April 29-May 6, 2012
Varvara has arrived at Olga Bay, on the Kamchatka Peninsula, an area where other western gray whales have been observed in the past. The ice has been retreating quickly during the last two weeks throughout her range of northern movements.

Courtesy of Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute

Credit: This research was conducted by A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS) and Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute in collaboration with the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, Kronotsky State Nature Biosphere Reserve and the Kamchatka Branch of the Pacific Institute of Geography. The research was contracted through the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with funding from Exxon Neftegas Ltd. and Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd.